Quote:
Originally Posted by Sly
That's not a Canadian problem. A lot of Western countries are having the same issue. Japan (pseudo-Western) is in dire straits. Germany and northern Europe are in a bind, which is why they were more open to the refugees and immigrants from the more poor European countries in general. And here in the US we have the problem of smart/successful people not reproducing.
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I'm not saying it's an exclusively Canadian problem but since this thread IS about Canada, I mentioned that problem in the Canadian context.
Also, besides the countries you mentioned, South Korea and Singapore are having population replacement issues as well.
It is interesting you mentioned JAPAN because Japan bucks the trend of using IMMIGRATION to fix its labor issues. Instead, it's turning to easier to pick fruit and produce, automation, and other non-immigration related solutions.
I suppose this alternative solution can help but it may be a stop gap solutions. Last I checked, robots don't pay taxes which fund entitlements that go to a rapidly aging population.
My pet theory is that a country's WEALTH and OVERALL EDUCATION LEVEL (for the middle class and above) acts as social contraception. Having kids is a less attractive option. Proof? Look at Mexico's population patterns-the middle class and above are having less and less children. The same play out, interestingly enough, in many other developing countries.
It's a class and economics thing?
So maybe the solution can either be:
1) Have more kids in the developed world to stave off immigration or......
2) Further development in developing countries to produce sustainable INCLUSIVE growth which leads to lower population growth.... This can make emigration less attractive (although in the case of So Korea, it's not a slam dunk-there's still a comparatively heavy flow of Koreans to the US and other countries despite heavy industrialization).
Option #2 has to come from the developing countries themselves in order to work and last I checked, 3rd World monopolists aren't exactly jumping at the chance to bring economic democracy (and lower profits for them) to their shores...
So we're back to the whole LOW DEVELOPED COUNTRY BIRTH RATE (PULL) and WEAK DEVELOPING COUNTRY MIDDLE CLASS FORMATION/ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITIES (PUSH) factors.